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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23259367">Late Watch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/venndaai/pseuds/venndaai'>venndaai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:06:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>803</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23259367</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/venndaai/pseuds/venndaai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone's asleep except Caleb. And Fjord.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fjord/Caleb Widogast, The Mighty Nein &amp; Caleb Widogast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>All The Nice Things Flash Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Late Watch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolfGirl01/gifts">revanchxst (BadWolfGirl01)</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set in a canon divergence au where Fjord overhears the Caleb Lore Dump in Zadash. Hope this fits what you were looking for &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At night there really is nothing to distinguish one piece of road from another. Caleb sits with his back against the reassuringly solid wood of the cart, looking out at the dark outlines of tall grass and listening to the voiceless murmur of the night breeze. The weight on his chest presses down hard. Nott dozes, head resting on his knee, and that helps, but it’s not enough. He wants Frumpkin, but the cat is currently asleep on Jester’s lap, several feet away where she’s curled up in a pile with Beauregard and Mollymauk, the tieflings’ tails tangled together a little. </p><p>Caleb’s glad to be away from them, wishes he was further apart. But he also wishes he had Frumpkin. </p><p>Over the sound of the wind he can hear the crackle of a fire, and he can sense the heat and light, coming from behind the cart. It’s not cold. The fire is more for protection, if any beasts wander too close. Even the dumbest of beasts know to fear flames. </p><p>The stars above are cold, and hold no comfort. Caleb closes his eyes. He opens them again.</p><p>Nott stirs a little, when Caleb stands. He shushes her gently. “Go back to sleep,” he whispers, and presses a kiss to her hair. He can’t stop himself from breathing in the earthy, sweaty smell of her. Ever since he started touching her and Beauregard, now and again, some part of him that is cold and small just wants contact constantly. Each time he thinks,<em> this is stupid and dangerous. </em> And then he thinks, <em> but they know. They </em> know <em> and they have not left me. </em></p><p>But they won’t choose him over Fjord. Beau won’t, and he won’t let Nott. He tells himself he won’t let her. He knows now that the others can help her better than he can. He tells himself he can afford to be that tiny amount of selfless. </p><p>He tries to hold the concept in his mind. Alone again. Sleeping in the dirt. Stealing to survive. His hands start shaking again. His ears start ringing. He tries to breathe more calmly. </p><p>He walks around the cart, towards the fire. The breeze tugs at his scarf and the ends of his ragged coat. <em> How far you’ve fallen, </em> says a familiar voice in his mind. No. He has risen. Not very far, not very well, but he’ll never be as worthless again as he was as Bren. </p><p>He wonders if Fjord would agree.</p><p>He can see the silhouette of the half-orc, sitting with his back to the fire, and then he turns, and Caleb can see the flickering light of the flames glowing on the hard planes of Fjord’s face. </p><p>“Can’t sleep?” Fjord asks quietly, in his deep drawl. </p><p>Caleb nods. </p><p>“Can’t say I blame ya,” Fjord says. “Want to sit and watch with me for a spell?” </p><p>Caleb doesn’t move. </p><p>“Hey,” Fjord says. “It’s all right.”</p><p>Caleb hears himself laugh. </p><p>The dark silhouette unfolds as Fjord stands and moves close to him. His hands are warm from fire heat when they come to rest on Caleb’s shoulders, pinning him in place. Caleb closes his eyes and breathes.  </p><p>“I never apologized to you properly,” Fjord says. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, back in Zadash. Shoulda just kept walking once I realized I was hearing things I wasn’t meant to. I was an ass, and I’m sorry about that.” </p><p>Caleb breathes out. “I accept your apology,” he says, and he should leave it there, “thank you,” that’s fine, maybe they can pretend this never happened, if Fjord is apparently willing to leave it Caleb should do the same, but he hears himself laughing a little, a muffled giggle, and knows that’s not what’s going to happen. “Shouldn’t I- don’t you- I would have thought you would want me to apologize to you.”</p><p>Fjord’s hands lift off of Caleb’s shoulders, and he sways a little, unbalanced. “What for?” Fjord asks, but he doesn’t sound surprised. </p><p>“I… lied to you,” Caleb says. “I told you no one was after me.”</p><p>“Think we all figured that,” Fjord says. “C’mon, sit down. Fire’s nice and- I mean, it’s warm.”</p><p>“I’m not cold,” Caleb says, but he opens his eyes, and sits down on ground next to Fjord. </p><p><em>You’re good,</em> he thinks, <em>you’re a good person and I tricked you into thinking maybe I was- not a terrible one-</em> But he doesn’t say it. </p><p>Fjord’s arm comes to rest around Caleb. Caleb stiffens. It’s different, than touching Beau or Nott- Fjord is bigger than him, solid and immovable. “It’s all right,” he says, his big warm hand squeezing Caleb’s shoulder, and Caleb can’t stop himself- he turns his face against Fjord’s cloak, breathes in the smell of smoke and leather, and lets himself feel safe, just for a moment.</p>
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